What will a $123 million dollar cap allow the the Panthers to do?

[Davidson Deac II]

Johnson will demand 6 years $80-$90m contract with $30-$35m guaranteed.

More than likely it will be backloaded deal with Johnson making around $18m in his final year.

90 would be more than Julius Peppers contract with the Bears. That seems unlikely.

You might be close on the guaranteed money though.

[carpanfan96]

The franchise tag for DEs is 12.9 million which is highly influenced by Pepper's 18 million. So people saying that Johnson will get 14 million are saying he will be 2nd highest paid DE in the league and above the tag level??

I would think that around 45 million for 5 years is about right. With a bidding war it could go to 50 or 55.

In league circles, he's a top 5 DE. So look at top 5 DE salaries and put him somewhere in that range. It's going to take more then 55 million to get him, there will be a major bidding war for him and it's going to take making him a top 5 paid DE in the league to sign him.

And most signs point to Johnson's free agency being unrestricted with a new Collective Bargaining Agreement on the horizon. The Gaston Gazette does speculate that the NFL will give teams a brief window in which to sign their own free agents, before they hit the open market. Johnson needs to be Carolina's No. 1 priority, but he will likely command over $10 million a year. The Panthers should have franchise tagged Johnson over Ryan Kalil. Jun 16, 11:07 AM

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/4245/player?r=1

[carpanfan96]

90 would be more than Julius Peppers contract with the Bears. That seems unlikely.

You might be close on the guaranteed money though.

Peppers deal was 6 years worth 91.5 million, what makes it so crazy is the Bears have an opt out and that Peppers first 3 years are guaranteed.

[Davidson Deac II]

This says 6 years, 84 million.

Regardless, I like Johnson, but he doesn't deserve close to Peppers money yet.

Of course, imo Peppers doesn't deserve peppers money. :)

[Ja Rhule]

The franchise tag for DEs is 12.9 million which is highly influenced by Pepper's 18 million. So people saying that Johnson will get 14 million are saying he will be 2nd highest paid DE in the league and above the tag level??

I would think that around 45 million for 5 years is about right. With a bidding war it could go to 50 or 55.

Two big things:

Rookie salary cap will allow players like Johnson to get a fortune.

Salary cap floor. Teams have to spend lots of $$$.

[pantherclaw]

Fixed

You'd rather see the falcons get better, and the panthers regress even more.

I'm pretty sure who you are a fan of.

[carpanfan96]

This says 6 years, 84 million.

Regardless, I like Johnson, but he doesn't deserve close to Peppers money yet.

Of course, imo Peppers doesn't deserve peppers money. :)

Yes, that's correct. That doesn't include his incentives which can add another 7.5 million to the deal. They are listed as LTBE though, so they count towards his cap hit each season. Which basically makes the deal the full amount of 6 years for 91.5 million.

As for Johnson, I don't think he gets close to Peppers money flat out.

I think he'll get a deal with a bunch of incentives an a hefty signing bonus, it will probably look something like this

6 years for 72 million with incentives that could escalate that to around 80 million. Those incentives would need to be listed as LTBE, meaning his deal would theoretically be a 6 year deal worth 80 million.

I'd break it down like this on year to year.

2012 - 8 million

2013 - 11 million

2014 -13 million

2016 - 15 million

2017 - 16 million

2018 - 17 million

That's if he hits all of his incentives and so forth, those figures are also counting the signing bonus and are the Cap hit not base salary.

[firstdayfan]

I found this on the ask the commish website...in this portion it explains how a contract can be adjusted throughout the deal. Just FYI the question involved a 5 year deal for 20 million with no bonus. However, if there was a bonus it would be prorated over the length of the contract. So in this example say the player received a 10 million dollar signing bonus...you would add a 2 million dollar cap hit to each year. However all of this includes the total salary of the player...so even though we may sign Johnson, Williams, and Anderson to big deals it want be such a big hit in the first year.

Teams with heavy payloads learned quickly that the best way to combat the Salary Cap was to circumvent it. They did this by back loading contracts, pushing all of the big money to the end of the contract. For example, a 5-year, $20 million contract (not counting a signing bonus) signed in 2005 as described above could possibly allocate the money in the following manner:

Year 1 (2006): $450,000 (min. cap given to players with 4+ years experience)

Year 2 (2007): $1 million

Year 3 (2008): $1.5 million

Year 4 (2009): $5 million

Year 5 (2010): $12 million

[firstdayfan]

Two big things:

Rookie salary cap will allow players like Johnson to get a fortune.

Salary cap floor. Teams have to spend lots of $$$.

One positive about te rookie cap is that it won't drive up prices as fast either...current QB's may not like how much Bradford got last year but at least it drove up the prices of what they should get when they resign. That's why the players were fighting it I think. And like you said, that's where the cash floor comes into effect.

One thing that could help us is the fact that the market will be saturated this offseason with talent and even though Johnson is the most talented DE there are other cheaper options for other teams.

[carpanfan96]

I found this on the ask the commish website...in this portion it explains how a contract can be adjusted throughout the deal. Just FYI the question involved a 5 year deal for 20 million with no bonus. However, if there was a bonus it would be prorated over the length of the contract. So in this example say the player received a 10 million dollar signing bonus...you would add a 2 million dollar cap hit to each year. However all of this includes the total salary of the player...so even though we may sign Johnson, Williams, and Anderson to big deals it want be such a big hit in the first year.

Yes, I know. Everyone pretty much gets a signing bonus though and they are usually a pretty hefty amount of the total salary.

Anderson for example will get a 5 year deal worth probably around 30 million with around 12 of that being a guaranteed signing bonus.

So to make his deal work to a point the player agrees to it, you might see something like

2011 - 2.5 million

2012 - 3.5 million

2013 - 6 million

2014 - 8 million

2015 - 10 million

Now that I broke that contract down and made it completely back loaded as hell. Note that I was off by 2 million for my cap hit on the first year. That was an approximation in my breakdown post just a few post ago. Not exact figures, which is why I also gave a window of the Panthers available cap being between 16 million - 8 million.

I know how the CBA works, I know how deals work. I'm probably one of the few people on this forum that have read the old CBA. I'll read the new one, when it's available to me.

I'm not that far off on what it's going to take to sign these players and how much cap will be left. After signing their own players they will have spent a big portion of that cap. Expect them to have spent around 104 million or so after signing everyone and extending Beason.

[firstdayfan]

Yes, I know. Everyone pretty much gets a signing bonus though and they are usually a pretty hefty amount of the total salary.

Anderson for example will get a 5 year deal worth probably around 30 million with around 12 of that being a guaranteed signing bonus.

So to make his deal work to a point the player agrees to it, you might see something like

2011 - 2.5 million

2012 - 3.5 million

2013 - 6 million

2014 - 8 million

2015 - 10 million

Now that I broke that contract down and made it completely back loaded as hell. Note that I was off by 2 million for my cap hit on the first year. That was an approximation in my breakdown post just a few post ago. Not exact figures, which is why I also gave a window of the Panthers available cap being between 16 million - 8 million.

I know how the CBA works, I know how deals work. I'm probably one of the few people on this forum that have read the old CBA. I'll read the new one, when it's available to me.

I'm not that far off on what it's going to take to sign these players and how much cap will be left. After signing their own players they will have spent a big portion of that cap. Expect them to have spent around 104 million or so after signing everyone and extending Beason.

I think that's totally accurate and I 100% agree with you...and assuming the cap is let's say 125 (I've heard 120-130) and we have to be above 90% thats $112 million. And with your projected $104 million after resigning everyone that leaves at least $8 million for free agents. So what could we do with $8-10 million give or take?

[carpanfan96]

I think that's totally accurate and I 100% agree with you...and assuming the cap is let's say 125 (I've heard 120-130) and we have to be above 90% thats $112 million. And with your projected $104 million after resigning everyone that leaves at least $8 million for free agents. So what could we do with $8-10 million give or take?

Depending on how the team structures the deals, they could theoretically go out and get Joseph, Mebane, and a vet QB and be around 119 - 124 million. The Panthers typically spend all of the Cap and are usually on the brink of going over it.

What I expect they do is to take a hard Go at Joseph ( I actually do see him signing here with a big contract.) Then Go after a middle of the Pack DT for veteran presence. Maybe someone who fits the Big body run stuffer mold, maybe someone who has something to prove and who knows the HC. Maybe Jamal Williams.

Then get that backup Vet QB for Clausen and Newton.

I'd expect the players Carolina signs out of FA to look like this,

QB - Bulger

DT - Jamal Williams

CB - Johnathan Joseph

[DaCityKats]

Yes, I know. Everyone pretty much gets a signing bonus though and they are usually a pretty hefty amount of the total salary.

Anderson for example will get a 5 year deal worth probably around 30 million with around 12 of that being a guaranteed signing bonus.

So to make his deal work to a point the player agrees to it, you might see something like

2011 - 2.5 million

2012 - 3.5 million

2013 - 6 million

2014 - 8 million

2015 - 10 million

Now that I broke that contract down and made it completely back loaded as hell. Note that I was off by 2 million for my cap hit on the first year. That was an approximation in my breakdown post just a few post ago. Not exact figures, which is why I also gave a window of the Panthers available cap being between 16 million - 8 million.

I know how the CBA works, I know how deals work. I'm probably one of the few people on this forum that have read the old CBA. I'll read the new one, when it's available to me.

I'm not that far off on what it's going to take to sign these players and how much cap will be left. After signing their own players they will have spent a big portion of that cap. Expect them to have spent around 104 million or so after signing everyone and extending Beason.

I learned all that from madden.

[CPF4LIFE]

I say pay Johnson whatever he wants, we cant let him walk. PERIOD.